Beauty and the Labyrinth
by CharismaPoison
Summary: Tired of being stuck in the middle between her true love Edward and her best friend Jacob when they are fighting, Bella utters a phrase that will change not only her life, but the lives of all those around her when the Goblin King arrives to grant her wish. Time is of the essence if the boys wish to find her before its too late and she becomes one of them forever. Feedback welcome.
1. Chapter 1

1.

The fighting again, how it annoyed the brunette to no ends when they stood on the treaty line that separated La Push from Forks. Isabella Swan had heard it all when it came to the nearly endless arguing of Edward Cullen and Jacob Black, she supposed the only thing that could make it worse was if Mike Newton was there to add in his two cents, the thought alone made her shudder in distaste. She sighed, there was a very large amount of words being exchanged this time, Edward was very irate about whatever Jacob was thinking and it was obvious on the young man's face that he was enjoying the torment he put the vampire through. She didn't get it, she and Jacob had had a very good afternoon, it was almost as if nothing had changed between them as they had sat on the beach talking...well minus his blatant flirting towards her but even that she could ignore, but the moment he had brought her to the treaty line for Edward to pick her up, well here was where they were now.

She loved Edward, after all she had gone all the way to Volterra just the previous month to save him from being destroyed by the Volturi when he had thought her dead, that alone proved that she loved him endlessly and that she would do anything for him. She knew that Jacob was irate that she had done so, she remembered the pleading look in his eyes when he had damn near begged her to stay with him there in Washington, but she didn't expect him to understand. How could anyone explain that the vampire who had gone to end his life merely because he thought she was dead was the one that had won her heart in the first place, and that she desperately and irrevocably, by her own admission, needed to be with because to live without him wasn't a life at all? Couldn't he remember the way Charlie had worried about her when Edward had first left, what his leaving had done to her and the state it had left her in? No, that was the obvious answer, he only remembered how hurt she had been that Edward had left in the first place, and that was all he would ever remember.

Bella pushed off the Volvo, she'd had enough this time as she turned and started walking down the road, it wasn't that far to town and she could always stop at the precinct and wait for her father to get off work to bum a ride home with him, though that thought wasn't too chipper in her mind either. He would ask her why she needed a ride home, then he would try to pry to get more information out of her than she was willing to give, then he would look down on Edward again and she wasn't in the mood to hear about that again...yeah walking home was a better option. She could hear both of them calling her name, Edward calling to her to come back and get in the car, Jake calling to her to come back to La Push and he would drive her home herself and she finally had had enough as she turned to face them. "Don't either one of you get it? I'm tired of hearing the two of you argue constantly over me while there's a deranged vampire out there that wants to kill me because I got her mate killed! No, all the two of you do is argue about who is the better choice for me but guess what, neither one of you gets to make that choice, I do! And right now, I wouldn't choose either of you even if my life depended on it," she said angrily.

The hurt look on Edward's face was almost too much for her to bear, but she had to stand firm in what she had just said, biting her lower lip as she did so. "I'm not breaking up with you Edward, I'm just asking for some time to myself, away from the bickering because its giving me a headache...just...I don't know," she said as she looked down at the ground. She could hear Jacob start blame Edward for the way she was feeling and her hands balled into fists, he just couldn't leave well enough alone and she had had it. "Jacob shut up! Just shut up!" she said angrily as she walked forward, opening the passenger door to the Volvo parked on the side of the road and watching Edward as he got in beside her. Wordlessly he started the car, turning around to head back into Forks so that he could drop her off at home, he didn't need to hear her thoughts to know that she had nothing to say to him and just wanted to be left alone, he didn't want to press his luck.

It wasn't long before he pulled up in front of her house and before he could say anything, Bella exited the car and started to head up to the front door, hearing the car turn off and stopping as she got to the porch. "No Edward...I want to be left alone," she said, her tone somewhat icy as she unlocked the door and walked in, slamming it shut behind her. She flopped down on the couch, she knew he hadn't left yet, as the sound of his car had not started up, and she found herself holding her breath until she heard his sigh, then shortly after that his car starting. Groaning, she buried her face in the pillow and reached for the remote, turning her head to watch the television as she flipped channels. She stopped when she found the movie Labyrinth, getting lost in the fantasy of Sarah trying to find her baby brother within the labyrinth while the goblin king tried to stop her.

It was dark when the movie was over, and Charlie called to let her know that he would be working late that night so she was on her own, which was not so unusual in the grand scheme of things she supposed. She made herself a sandwich for dinner, not feeling very hungry that evening since she still couldn't get the entire ordeal between Edward and Jacob out of her head. She loved Edward, that much was obvious to anyone that saw them together but Jacob was her friend and she cared about him, she didn't want to lose him either, and it seemed that she was being put on the spot considering they both wanted her attention equally. She was going to have to make a choice one day and that was a day that she never wanted to have come, she didn't think that she could hurt either one of them. She finished her sandwich and washed her dishes before heading up the stairs to her room, jumping when she opened the door to find Edward standing there. "I thought I said I needed time alone," she said as she closed the door behind her and walked around him to sit on her bed.

"You did...but I needed to see you, to apologize. I am very sorry Bella, I shouldn't let him get to me the way I do even though he deliberately thinks things that make me irate. I promise to try harder, he is your friend after all," Edward said as he stood motionless, that was the problem with vampires. Bella sighed, she knew he really meant it, otherwise he would not be here, just like she knew Jacob purposefully antagonized him and he rised to it, he was after all a man and reading his thoughts was just an added bonus for Jake to make him angry. She reached out for him, taking his cold hand in her own and watching as he raised his eyes to meet hers, the look in them making her breathing a bit heavier and he noticed her lips part ever so slightly, a gesture most would never have noticed.

She was going to say something when she heard noises outside and she groaned, she didn't need to get up and look out the window to know that it was Jacob, more than likely coming to give the same speech about Edward that Edward had given about Jake. She was going to get to her feet to ask if he could come back another time when she heard him make the short distance from the ground to her room, his eyes meeting Edward's and she noticed that Edward looked rather angry, his jaw set and his lips a thin line. She could hear the soft growl emitting from Jacob's throat and she groaned as she got to her feet to stand between them as they stared one another down. "You two are not going to fight here in my room, especially when your pack has no territory here," she said though it seemed neither one of them heard a word she said as she threw her hands up in the air.

"I wish that movie I watched today were real, and that there were magic words to say to make the goblins take someone away," she said, hearing a crash of thunder outside just as rain started to fall. She shook her head, it was going to be another bad storm and yet it seemed worse with the two in this house getting ready to go hog wild at each other. "I wish the goblins would come and take me away...right now," she muttered, and no more than a few moments after the words left her lips, the lights in the house went out. There were sounds of little feet shuffling within the room and a surprised yelp before the lights came back on, Jacob and Edward there looking at one another, bewilderment on both their faces as they looked around for Bella.

"Where is she?" they asked at the same time, a snowy owl flying into the room as they searched frantically, their backs turned to the bird at the same time. It was when they turned around that they had a major shock...because there was now a man standing right where Bella had been, an odd smile on his face as they looked at one another then back to him. "And who the Hell are you?" Jacob asked the man, looking to Edward for answers but Edward was unable to read the man's mind, something that had only happened with Bella. "Where is she?" Edward asked, he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"I took her, she is in my palace in the Kingdom within the goblin city that lays beyond the labyrinth...just as she wished. My name is Jareth, and you can both forget about Isabella, I have granted her wish and she will never be returning to you again," he said, his lips spreading into a wry smile as a wicked laugh escaped him, leaving Edward and Jacob to stand and watch in disbelief, wondering what kind of cruel joke this was supposed to be.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

"What do you mean you took her?" Jacob growled as he started to move towards the older male with the crooked pointy teeth, but Edward moved his arm in front of him to stop him. He could hear this man's thoughts as clearly as he could anyone else's but they were so jumbled, as if he knew Edward had this power and wanted to throw him off. His fists were clenched, the fact that Bella was missing driving him insane, especially now that they knew Victoria was out there trying to track her down. They didn't have time for this nonsense and he needed to get to the bottom of everything, and right now.

"What Jake is trying to say is we don't have time for this, she's in danger and not knowing where she is could be a disaster, please just bring her back," Edward said, noting the smirk on Jareth's face as he stood there, wagging his finger and making a tsk-ing sound with his tongue. He already knew what the answer was and he was not very happy about it, Edward knew this man was not going to bring his Bella back and that was not the answer he was looking for by any means. He wanted her back, needed her back and there was not going to be anything that stopped him from getting her back.

"I see now why she wished for me to take her to the Goblin City, the two of you must make her head hurt terribly. I have done what she wished of me, but if you two gentlemen would like to try and find her then by all means I will give you the way to do so," Jareth said, that same smirk upon his pouting lips. His cool eyes looked over Edward's pale form then moved to the tanned muscle that was Jacob as he raised an eyebrow, he supposed one couldn't be picky in a small town like Forks, then again the scenery in women wasn't all that fabulous when it came to the Goblin City either.

"The Goblin City...you keep saying that but what the Hell is going on? Bring her back right now or you're going to wish you never showed your face here," Jake said with a growl that started deep in his throat before it was fully audible, his face twisted in anger. He never took his eyes off of Jareth, almost afraid that if he did the man would vanish without a trace, and then he would never see Bella again, never have the chance to make her realize that she was just as in love with him as he was with her. The thought made him visibly shiver though he had not wanted that to be visible, and he saw Edward tense a bit.

"We would like every opportunity that you can give us to find her...please. I can't exist without her, and I won't let her go just like that, not again," Edward said, his golden eyes never moving from Jareth's face either. Like Jacob, he was almost afraid this man would disappear if he even dared to blink, which he hadn't since he had first appeared before them just moments ago. Perks of being a vampire, he thought to himself, no need to blink. He eyes met those of the smirking man and he saw the man's smirk turn into a sly grin.

"I am a sporting man, I will do as you ask," Jareth said, as he clapped his hands together. The three of them stood upon a hill in what looked to have once been a forest but was now a wastelend. There was a dirty clock that read all the way up to the number thirteen standing before them with Jareth standing beside it. He motioned into the distance, where lay a huge labyrinth that surrounded a large palace, unlike anything Edward had ever read about. "She's there in my castle, beyond the Goblin City in the center of the labyrinth. I will give you thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth or she will be mine forever," Jareth said as Edward and Jacob looked at one another.

"This is pointless, there's no way we can find our way through that in that many hours, we're wasting our time, I say we take him and force him to take us to her," Jacob growled under his breath at Edward, he was angered and there was no way he wanted to work with Edward in order to solve this damned thing, Edward could see that in his mind without even having to ask as he shook his head.

"He'll never just take us to her, and I can't read his thoughts because they are too jumbled, almost like he knows what I can do and wants to make sure that I can't figure it out," Edward murmured back as Jareth made a tick tock type of motion with his fingers before Edward looked at him and drew a deep, unnecessary breath. "We accept," he said, though he didn't want to say the words.

"I thought you would, such a pity the two of your can't get along better, the labyrinth plays tricks on your minds and would be easier to figure out if there were two heads instead of one, such a pity indeed," he said before he vanished, leaving the two men standing there looking at the path before them that led to the doors of the labyrinth. They began walking towards it in silence, neither of them wanting to speak to the other, both blaming the other for the predicament they were finding themselves in at this very moment.

Jacob reached the doors first, pushing on them with all his might but they would not open no matter what he did. Edward tried next but still they wouldn't budge, it almost seemed as if they would not be allowed inside no matter what they tried. "How the Hell are we going to get to her if we can't even find a way inside here? This is all your fault!" he said to Edward angrlly, who was about to reply with much hostility right when the doors opened to reveal a forked corridor. Jacob didn't wait as he went to the path on the left, leaving Edward to watch him walk away. He looked down the corridor to the left before he began to walk along it, hoping against hope that at least one of them would make it to Bella before the thirteen hours were up.

Jareth watched from the tower of his castle as the men split ways, laughing heartily as he had known they would not work together which meant that neither of them would make it to the center of the labyrinth in time to save the woman that lay within the grand chambers on a bed of satin and silk. She would indeed be his forever...


	3. Chapter 3

3.

Jacob had headed to the left after he had gotten inside the labyrinth, he had it figured that with his wolf senses he should be able to track the Goblin King fairly easily to the center of the maze, though he hadn't expected the man to disappear into thin air leaving him with no scent to follow. He growled softly as he walked along, confused since the corridor just seemed to go on and on with no corners or turns of the sort, this made him even angrier as he jogged along the path wondering what the Hell was going on. This place made no sense and what was worse was he had to solve it before the bloodsucker did, that was all there was to it, because when he made it there to save her then Bella would see he was the right choice for her all along. The thought alone made a smile come to his lips as he walked along, though not finding turns or anything was starting to make him quite a bit agitated.

He finally stopped and punched the brick wall in a show of complete anger, shaking with rage and trying to keep his wolf from taking over, last thing he needed was to be wandering about some strange labyrinth in the buff. "This is impossible...long damn corridor that goes on and on with no turns, corners...what the Hell kind of game is this," he said, sitting down for a moment, back against the wall as he rubbed the back of his head with a soft growl. He was frustrated, which happened fairly often enough but that didn't mean that it didn't make him angry beyond all reason when it did happen, pulling his legs up so that his knees were against his chest and his chin rested on them. He closed his eyes, building up his strength and forcing himself to stay calm, knowing that it would be for the best if he did this, at least for Bella's sake as a small voice called out, "'Ello."

Jacob looked up then, eyes wide as he looked around trying to find the source of the voice that had called out to him though a part of him wondered if he had finally lost his marbles as a result of it, which was the last thing that he needed to have happening to him now. He didn't see anyone to his right nor to his left so he was now thoroughly convinced that he was clinically insane and the white coats should be on their way any moment now, Hell this damn labyrinth was probably all a figment of his imagination as his eyes fell upon a worm that seemed to be watching him. That thought alone made him question his entire sanity but it also seemed that this worm was debating on whether or not to speak to him again, which made his head hurt as he regarded it seriously. "Did...did you just say hello to me, worm?" he asked, amazed with himself for even regarding the insect and even calling himself daft for giving into his own delusions.

"No, I said 'ello, but that's close enough I suppose, you're looking a might bit lost if I do say so meself," the worm said, his accent quite thick and British as Jacob's face paled from hearing the insect speak, watching it as it did so. This was officially the point of no return, of giving into delusions of grandeur and admitting once and for all that this mess with the leech had made him go off the deep end for good with no hope of return once again. The worm watched with great interest while the man before him seemed to be struggling with his own inner turmoil, tilting its head somewhat as he did so. "You look troubled, you should come inside and meet the missus, maybe have a spot of tea while you stay," he said with a friendly smile and a nod, Jacob merely staring in disbelief as he did so.

"But...but you're a worm...and...you're a worm," Jacob said, his eyes wide as the worm merely watched him, thinking to himself that the human before him was a bit slow on the uptake but then he hadn't been the first to state the obvious about his species and that he could incredibly talk. "Yeah, that's right," the worm replied as Jacob shook his head, he honestly wanted to believe that this was all a figment of his imagination and go tell his dad that he had finally lost it and needed medication or something to help him. He rubbed his temples, debating on whether or not to will this delusion away to be able to go and ask his father to help him, but this still felt all too real to truly be a dream in the long run. Still, what was it to give into a delusion, if it was real he would be considered crazy for talking about it, and if it weren't then that meant he was crazy, right? Right.

"You wouldn't know how to get through the labyrinth by any chance, would you, I mean since there are no corners, or turns or anything, it just seems to go on and on forever," he said, noting the hint of desperation in his voice as he said it. He wanted to find Bella, to show her that he was the proper choice to her, that he was proving it by finding her and saving her from that weirdo Jareth and all that he had intended for her, no matter what it was. He was determined to show her this and more when he found her, to confess his undying love to her and tell her that he wanted to be with her more than anyone ever could, that he would prove he was better than her leech, that he was the natural choice. She wouldn't have to die, just grow old and have a life with him, all she had to do was agree, and he would make her the happiest woman in the world, all she had to do was give him a chance.

"No, I'm just a worm, never traveled much meself what with the missus and all, couldn't very well be leaving her behind now, and you aren't looking at the place right is all, there's a break in the wall just there in front of you," the worm said, motioning with his head at the gap in the wall though Jacob saw nothing at all. He recognized the look on the boy's face when he looked at the gap, he was obviously not seeing it, just like that daft girl so many years prior as he motioned at the wall again. "Go on, walk through it, things are not always what they seem in this place, you have to be as alert as possible," he said with a nod of his slimy head once more as Jacob got to his feet, his arms out in front of him. He took a deep breath as he walked towards the wall, certain that he was going to walk straight into the hard brick and hurt himself, but found himself surprised when he found that the worm was right.

"Wow...thanks, that was really helpful, I didn't even think that there would be camouflaging in this place like that," Jacob said as he headed to the left, the worm watching him go with a nod before disappearing back into his home once more, glad that the boy hadn't gone the other way and headed straight for the castle, that would have been disastrous. Jacob took off running, sure that he was on the right path now, making sure to stay alert for other paths and ways that he might have to go, keeping an eye out for the leech as well. "Just hang on Bella, I'm coming, don't give up," he said softly as he kept running, blissfully unaware that had he just gone the other way he would be there to find her sleeping on her bed of satin and silk, Jareth keeping a watchful eye over his prize from the window sill he perched upon to watch the action unfold.


End file.
